NSB commission nixes changes for controversial apartment complex

Published: Tuesday, February 12, 2013 at 9:26 p.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, February 12, 2013 at 9:49 p.m.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Plans for a controversial apartment complex along the North Causeway were dealt another blow Tuesday when city commissioners unanimously denied a request to amend a development agreement that runs with the property.

Atlantic Housing Partners, the company that plans to build the 239-unit complex, asked for changes to the accord that was approved in 2005 in part to remove a cap that limits the amount of units that can be built on the site at 202.

The proposed development, called Causeway Landings, would include several four-story buildings with a mix of affordable and market rate apartments as well as units for seniors.

The commission's vote follows a unanimous recommendation to deny amending the agreement by the city's Planning and Zoning Board. Along with that recommendation, the Planning and Zoning Board last month also denied a requested variance that would have reduced the number of required parking spaces on the property from 626 to 450.

With the votes against it piling up, Atlantic Housing Partners could sell the property or wait for the development agreement to expire in 2015, at which time the company could build up to 259 apartments on the site.

"We're going to continue to look at what is the best alternative moving forward," Scott Culp, one of the principals of Atlantic Housing Partners, said after the commission's vote. "I can't tell you what that is today, but we do need to evaluate that."

As was the case with other city meetings where Causeway Landings was on the agenda, the room was packed with opponents of the project. The city moved Tuesday's City Commission meeting to the Brannon Center to accommodate the expected throng. Hundreds showed up wearing red as a show of solidarity in fighting the development.

Before the public hearing began, Mayor Adam Barringer asked those in the audience to stand up if they were for the project. Only representatives from Atlantic Housing Partners stood. Virtually everyone else in the room then rose in opposition.

"I think we know where we are," Barringer said.

Most all who spoke said they were part of the group New Smyrna Beach Citizens for Smart Growth, which has vigorously fought the project from the start. Concerns voiced ranged from potential overdevelopment of the property to declining property values and crime.

"Causeway Landings is a catastrophe in many ways but none more significant than its future potential impact on tax revenue, city costs for services and the health and safety of the citizens and residents," said Marty Danaher, one of the members of the group.

Planning Manager Gail Henrikson had recommended that the requested amendment be denied because she said the changes wouldn't comply with aspects of the city's comprehensive plan, land development regulations or recommendations made in a 2004 study of the North Causeway.

She did, however, propose 12 conditions that could be added to the agreement if the commission decided to approve the amendment. Those included that a mix of building heights be incorporated into the plan and that the taverns or drive-through uses be prohibited.

Rebecca Wilson, an attorney representing Atlantic Housing Partners, said the developer could agree to 11 of the conditions, but couldn't abide by a stipulation to provide all the parking required by the city's code. She said the 626 spaces would exceed the needs of the development and not be financially feasible.

"It would require us to build parking garages, which would therefore prohibit the developer from going forward with this project," she said.

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